The original Carl Sagan "Cosmos" was at least partly a response to the Cold War. Its message: "We're such little specks, can we embrace our common destiny and get along?"

You could look at the movie "Noah" and the remake of "Cosmos" as two manifestations of an odd phenomenon.

To an unusual degree right now, science and religion are at loggerheads, and nobody's happy. Fundamentalists aren't happy with "Noah," which they think was made by a person with no abiding respect for biblical texts, and they suspect the movie had other agendas.

If you're less biblically-minded, and happen to see "Noah," you might be deep into a meditation into the quantum nature of time, and whether there's any chance you could get your two hours and 20 minutes and $10.00 back.

"Cosmos" has an undisguised agenda: to put scientific thinking at the forefront of the national conversation, even if it means giving religion a gentle swat.

We'll talk about this, and the Letterman and Rowland resignations on this episode of The Nose.

What do you think? Comment below, email Colin@wnpr.org, or tweet @wnprcolin.

GUESTS:

Jim Chapdelaine is a producer, award-winning composer, and recording engineer.

Rand Cooper is an author, essayist, and restaurant critic for the New York Times.

Theresa Cramer is a writer and the editor of E-Content Magazine, where she covers the world of digital media